Punjab, Pakistan

The name "Punjab" consists of two parts ({{Langx|fa|پنج|translit=panj|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|fa|آب|translit=āb|label=none|lit=water}}), of Persian origin which are cognates of the Sanskrit words ({{Langx|sa|पञ्‍च|translit=pañca|label=none|lit=five}} and {{Langx|sa|अप्|translit=áp|label=none|lit=water}}).{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/PUNJAB.html |title=The Punjab |author=H K Manmohan Siṅgh|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Editor-in-Chief Harbans Singh |publisher=Punjabi University, Patiala|access-date=18 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305062705/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/PUNJAB.html |archive-date=5 March 2016}}{{cite book|last=Gandhi|first=Rajmohan|title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten|publisher=Aleph Book Company|year=2013|isbn=978-93-83064-41-0|location=New Delhi, India, Urbana, Illinois|page=1 ("Introduction")}} The name Punjab gained currency during the Mughal Empire rule over the region.Canfield, Robert L. (1991). Persia in Historical Perspective. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 1 ("Origins"). {{ISBN|978-0-521-52291-5}}. The word pañj-āb is the calque of Indo-Aryan pañca-áp and means "The Land of Five Waters", referring to the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas."Punjab." p. 107 in Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.), vol. 20. All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Sutlej being the largest.{{efn|Alternatively, Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej are counted among the five rivers of Punjab, with Beas considered as a tributary of Sutlej.}} References to a land of five rivers is found in the Mahabharata, in which one of the regions is named as Panchanada ({{Langx|sa|पञ्चनद|translit=pañca-nada|lit=five rivers}}).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdKcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA199|title=The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-1-61530-202-4|editor=Kenneth Pletcher|page=199|quote=The word's origin can perhaps be traced to panca nada, Sanskrit for "five rivers" and the name of a region mentioned in the ancient epic the Mahabharata.}}{{cite book|author=Rajesh Bala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzduAAAAMAAJ|title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18–20, 2005: Proceedings|publisher=Punjabi University|year=2005|isbn=978-81-7380-990-3|editor=Sukhdial Singh|page=80|chapter=Foreign Invasions and their Effect on Punjab|quote="The word Punjab is a compound of two words-Panj (Five) and aab (Water), thus signifying the land of five waters or rivers. This origin can perhaps be traced to panch nada, Sanskrit for "Five rivers" the word used before the advent of Muslims with a knowledge of Persian to describe the meeting point of the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers, before they joined the Indus."}} The ancient Greeks referred to the region as Pentapotamía ({{langx|el|Πενταποταμία}}), of the same meaning as that of Punjab.Lassen, Christian. 1827. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3 Commentatio Geographica atque Historica de Pentapotamia Indica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182901/https://books.google.ca/books?id=XbBCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3&redir_esc=y |date=18 November 2022 }} [A Geographical and Historical Commentary on Indian Pentapotamia]. Weber. p. 4:

"That part of India which today we call by the Persian name Penjab is named Panchanada in the sacred language of the Indians; either of which names may be rendered in Greek by Πενταποταμια. The Persian origin of the former name is not at all in doubt, although the words of which it is composed are both Indian and Persian.... But, in truth, that final word is never, to my knowledge, used by the Indians in proper names compounded in this way; on the other hand, there exist multiple Persian names which end with that word, e.g., Doab and Nilab. Therefore, it is probable that the name Penjab, which is today found in all geographical books, is of more recent origin and is to be attributed to the Muslim kings of India, among whom the Persian language was mostly in use. That the Indian name Panchanada is ancient and genuine is evident from the fact that it is already seen in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the most ancient Indian poems, and that no other exists in addition to it among the Indians; for Panchála, which English translations of the Ramayana render with Penjab...is the name of another region, entirely distinct from Pentapotamia...."{{whose translation|reason=has several mistakes – looks like Google translation|date=August 2022}}{{cite book|author1-last=Latif|author1-first=Syad Muhammad|title=History of the Panjáb from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Time|year=1891|publisher=Calcultta Central Press Company|page=1|quote=The Panjáb, the Pentapotamia of the Greek historians, the north-western region of the empire of Hindostán, derives its name from two Persian words, panj (five), an áb (water), having reference to the five rivers which confer on the country its distinguishing features." |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1}}{{cite journal|author1-last=Khalid|author1-first=Kanwal|title=Lahore of Pre Historic Era|journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan|volume=52|issue=2|page=73|year=2015|quote=The earliest mention of five rivers in the collective sense was found in Yajurveda and a word Panchananda was used, which is a Sanskrit word to describe a land where five rivers meet. [...] In the later period, the word Pentapotamia was used by the Greeks to identify this land. (Penta means 5 and potamia, water ___ the land of five rivers) Muslim Historians implied the word "Punjab" for this region. Again, it was not a new word because in Persian-speaking areas, there are references of this name given to any particular place where five rivers or lakes meet.|url=http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811210654/http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/7.%20Kanwal%20Khalid_v52_2_15.pdf|url-status=live}} Earlier, Punjab was also known as Sapta Sindhu in the Rigveda and Hapta Hendu in the Avesta, translating into "The Land of Seven Rivers"; the other two being Indus and Kabul which are included in the greater Punjab region.{{Cite journal |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |author-link=J. S. Grewal |date=2004 |title=Historical Geography of the Punjab |url=https://punjab.global.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/sitefiles/journals/volume11/no1/2_grewal.pdf |journal=Journal of Punjab Studies |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |issn=0971-5223 |oclc=436148809}}

{{main|History of Punjab}}

It is believed that the earliest evidence of human habitation in Punjab traces to the Soan Valley of the Pothohar, between the Indus and the Jhelum rivers, where Soanian culture developed between 774,000 BC and 11,700 BC. This period goes back to the first interglacial period in the second Ice Age, from which remnants of stone and flint tools have been found.{{sfn|Singh|1989|p=1}} The Punjab region was the site of one of the earliest cradle of civilizations, the Bronze Age Harrapan civilization that flourished from about 3000 B.C. and declined rapidly 1,000 years later, following the Indo-Aryan migrations that overran the region in waves between 1500 and 500 B.C.{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |pages=257–259 |language=en |access-date=21 August 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182901/https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live }} The migrating Indo-Aryan tribes gave rise to the Iron Age Vedic civilization, which lasted till 500 BC. During this era, the Rigveda was composed in Punjab,{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}} laying the foundation of Hinduism. Frequent intertribal wars in the post-Vedic period stimulated the growth of larger groupings ruled by chieftains and kings, who ruled local kingdoms known as Mahajanapadas. Achaemenid emperor Darius the Great, in 518 BCE crossed the Indus and annex the regions up to the Jhelum River.{{Cite book |last=André-Salvini |first=Béatrice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC |title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24731-4 |language=en |access-date=14 February 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118182927/https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC |url-status=live }} Taxila is considered to be the site of one of the oldest education centre of South Asia and was part of the Achaemenid province of Hindush.{{Cite book|last=Samad|first=Rafi U.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA33|title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys|date=2011|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-859-2|language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abNDLZQ6quYC&pg=PA257 |title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia |date=2012-08-30 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-659-1 |language=en}}

One of the early kings in Punjab was Porus, who fought the famous Battle of the Hydaspes against Alexander the Great.{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |pages=125–130 |chapter=The campaign of the Hydaspes}} The battle is thought to have resulted in a decisive Greek victory; however, A. B. Bosworth warns against an uncritical reading of Greek sources who were obviously exaggerative. Porus refused to surrender and wandered about atop an elephant, until he was wounded and his force routed. When asked by Alexander how he wished to be treated, Porus replied "Treat me as a king would treat another king".{{sfn|Rogers|p=200}} Despite the apparently one-sided results, Alexander was impressed by Porus and chose to not depose him.{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Albert Brian |title=Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |chapter=From the Hydaspes to the Southern Ocean}}{{Cite book |last=Anson |first=Edward M. |title=Alexander the Great: Themes and Issues |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2013 |isbn=9781441193797 |pages=151}}{{sfn|Roy|2004|pp=23–28}} Not only was his territory reinstated but also expanded with Alexander's forces annexing the territories of Glausaes, who ruled to the northeast of Porus' kingdom. The battle is historically significant because it resulted in the syncretism of ancient Greek political and cultural influences to the Indian subcontinent, yielding works such as Greco-Buddhist art, which continued to have an impact for the ensuing centuries.

Multan was the noted centre of excellence of the region which was attacked by the Greek army during the era of Alexander the Great. The Malli tribe together with nearby tribes gathered an army of 90,000-100,000 personnel to face the Greek army. This was perhaps the largest army faced by the Greeks in the entire Indian subcontinent.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}} During the siege of the city's citadel, Alexander leaped into the inner area of the citadel, where he faced the Mallians' leader. Alexander was wounded by an arrow that had penetrated his lung, leaving him severely injured. The city was conquered after a fierce battle.{{Cite web |title=Tareekh-e-Pakistan (Wasti Ahad) |url=https://yahyaamjad.com/books/tareekh-e-pakistan-wasti-ahad/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Yahya Amjad |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Arrian. Indica. English {{!}} The Online Books Page |url=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Arrian.%20Indica.%20English |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu}}

The region was then divided between the Maurya Empire and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in 302 B.C.E. Menander I Soter conquered Punjab and made Sagala (present-day Sialkot) the capital of the Indo-Greek Kingdom.{{cite book |last=Hazel |first=John |title=Who's Who in the Greek World |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781134802241 |page=155 |quote=Menander king in India, known locally as Milinda, born at a village named Kalasi near Alasanda (Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus), and who was himself the son of a king. After conquering the Punjab, where he made Sagala his capital, he made an expedition across northern India and visited Patna, the capital of the Mauraya empire, though he did not succeed in conquering this land as he appears to have been overtaken by wars on the north-west frontier with Eucratides.}}{{cite book |last=Ahir |first=D. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.49756 |title=Buddhism in the Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh |publisher=Maha Bodhi Society of India |year=1971 |page=31 |oclc=1288206 |quote=Demetrius died in 166 B.C., and Apollodotus, who was a near relation of the King died in 161 B.C. After his death, Menander carved out a kingdom in Punjab. Thus from 161 B.C. onward Menander was the ruler of Punjab till his death in 145 B.C. or 130 B.C.}} Menander is noted for becoming a patron and converting to Greco-Buddhism and he is widely regarded as the greatest of the Indo-Greek kings.{{Cite web |title=Menander {{!}} Indo-Greek king |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Menander-Indo-Greek-king |access-date=2021-09-06 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}

Following the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent at the beginning of the 8th century, Arab armies of the Umayyad Caliphate penetrated into South Asia introducing Islam into the Punjab. First, Islam was introduced into the Southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the 16th century, Muslims were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of mosques and mausoleums marked the landscape. Local Punjabi Muslim converts constituted the majority of this Muslim community, and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the Islamic confession of faith (shahada), the performance of the circumcision, and the ingestion of cow-meat.{{Cite book |last1=Rambo |first1=Lewis R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion |last2=Farhadian |first2=Charles E. |date=6 March 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971354-7 |pages=489–491 |quote=First, Islam was introduced into the southern Punjab in the opening decades of the eighth century. By the sixteenth century, Muslims were the majority in the region and an elaborate network of mosques and mausoleums marked the landscape. Local converts constituted the majority of this Muslim community, and as far for the mechanisms of conversion, the sources of the period emphasize the recitation of the Islamic confession of faith (shahada), the performance of the circumsicion (indri vaddani), and the ingestion of cow-meat (bhas khana). |access-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927082337/https://books.google.com/books?id=U03gAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA490#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=27 September 2023 |url-status=live}}

Islam emerged as the major power in Punjab after the Umayyad army led by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim conquered the region in 711 AD. The city of Multan became a centre of Islam. After the Umayyads conquered the key cities of Uch and Multan, they ruled the far areas of Punjab and included Kashmir. Islam spread rapidly.{{Cite book |last=Hudud |first=al-Alam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tN9jMwEACAAJ&q=hudud+al+alam |title=Hudud Al-Alam, 'the Regions of the World': A Persian Geography, 327A.H. – 982A.D |date=1970 |publisher=Luzac |language=en}}

According to local traditions, Baba Ratan Hindi was a trader from Punjab who was one of the non-Arab companions of Prophet Muhammad.{{Cite book |last=Suvorova |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QK0aLjQtX2cC&dq=baba+ratan&pg=PA220 |title=Muslim Saints of South Asia: The Eleventh to Fifteenth Centuries |date=2004-07-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-37006-1 |page=220 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Köprülü |first=Mehmet Fuat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&dq=baba+ratan&pg=PA79 |title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature |date=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-36686-1 |pages=79 |language=en}} He was reportedly a trader who used to take goods to Arabia. There is also a dargah named after him, the Haji Ratan Dargah, in Bathinda, where he settled after his conversion to Islam.{{Cite journal |last=PARIHAR |first=SUBHASH |date=2001 |title=The Dargāh of Bābā Ḥājī Ratan at Bhatinda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20837077 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=105–132 |doi=10.52541/isiri.v40i1.5057 |issn=0578-8072 |jstor=20837077}} Muslims who migrated to Pakistan during the partition of India in 1947 still venerate him as Baba Haji Ratan.{{Cite book |last=Snehi |first=Yogesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YiUDwAAQBAJ&dq=baba+ratan+partition&pg=PT190 |title=Spatializing Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territoriality |date=2019-04-24 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-51563-7 |pages=190 |language=en}}

In the ninth century, the Hindu Shahi dynasty originating from the region of Oddiyana replaced the Taank kingdom in the Punjab, ruling much of Punjab along with eastern Afghanistan.{{Cite journal |last=Rahman |first=Abdul |date=2002 |title=New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v15_37to42.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XV |pages=37–42 |quote=The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty.}}{{Cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |date=2005 |title=The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North |url=http://journals.uop.edu.pk/papers/AP_v16_41to48.pdf |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=XVI |pages=41–48 |quote=Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis".}} In the 10th century, the tribe of the Gakhars/Khokhars, formed a large part of the Hindu Shahi army according to the Persian historian Firishta.{{sfn|Rehman|1976|pp=48–50}}

Ghaznavid

The Turkic Ghaznavids in the tenth century attacked the regions of Punjab. Multan and Uch were conquered after 3 attacks and Multan's ruler Abul Fateh Daud was defeated,{{Cite book |last=MacLean |first=Derryl N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxAVAAAAIAAJ |title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-08551-0 |language=en}} famous Sun Temple was destroyed. Ghaznavids overthrew the Hindu Shahis and consequently ruled for 157 years, gradually declining as a power until the Ghurid conquests of key Punjab cities of Uch, Multan and Lahore by Muhammad of Ghor in 1186, deposing the last Ghaznavid ruler Khusrau Malik.{{Cite book |last=Mehta |first=Jaswant Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA76 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |date=1979 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |pages=76 |language=en}}

Following the death of Muhammad of Ghor in 1206, the Ghurid state fragmented and was replaced in northern India by the Delhi Sultanate and for some time independent sultanates ruled by various Sultans.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}} The Delhi Sultanate ruled Punjab for the next three hundred years, led by five unrelated dynasties, the Mamluks, Khalajis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis.

Delhi Sultanate

Tughlaqs

Ghiyath al-Din Tughlaq, the former governor of Multan and Dipalpur founded the Tughlaq dynasty in Delhi and ruled the subcontinent region. Earlier, he served as the governor of Multan and fought 28 battles against Mongols from there and saved Punjab and Sindh regions from the advances of Mongols and survived. After his death, his son Muhammad Tughlaq became the emperor.{{sfn|Amjad|1989|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}}

Sayyid Dynasty

The 15th century saw the rise of many prominent Muslims from Punjab. Khizr Khan established the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451 for 37 years.See:

• M. Reza Pirbha, Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context, {{ISBN|978-9004177581}}, Brill
• The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion into South Asia, Journal of South Asian Studies, 4(1), pp. 91–109
• Sookoohy M., Bhadreswar – Oldest Islamic Monuments in India, {{ISBN|978-9004083417}}, Brill Academic; see discussion of earliest raids in Gujarat The first ruler of the dynasty, Khizr Khan, who was the Timurid vassal of Multan, conquered Delhi in 1414, while the rulers proclaimed themselves the Sultans of the Delhi Sultanate under Mubarak Shah,{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah+timur++caliph&pg=RA1-PA240 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |publisher=S. Chand |isbn=9788121903646}}{{cite book |author=Iqtidar Alam Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah&pg=PA103 |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810855038 |page=103}} which succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty and ruled the Sultanate until they were displaced by the Lodi dynasty in 1451.

Khizr Khan was originally a noble in the Delhi Sultanate during the Tughlaq Dynasty and was the governor of Multan under Sultan Firuz Shah. He was expelled from the city by the Muin tribes under Sarang Khan who occupied Multan in 1395, an Indian Muslim and the brother of Mallu Iqbal Khan, who was the de facto ruler of Delhi.{{cite book |author1=John F. Richards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0_xhdCScQkC&dq=mallu+khan+slave&pg=PA207 |title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards |author2=David Gilmartin |author3=Munis D. Faruqui |author4=Richard M. Eaton |author5=Sunil Kuma | date=7 March 2013 |page=247 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-107-03428-0 |quote=Mallu Khan(also known as Iqbal Khan, a former slave}} Sarang Khan was aided by the servants of Malik Mardan Bhatti, a former governor of Multan and the grandfather of Khizr Khan by adoption.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Surinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSGzDwAAQBAJ&dq=malik+mardan+bhatti&pg=PT298 |title=The Making of Medieval Panjab: Politics, Society and Culture c. 1000–c. 1500 |date=2019-09-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-76068-2 |language=en}}

In 1398, Timur attacked the Punjab region. After his invasion, Khizr Khan established the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. According to Richard M. Eaton, Khizr Khan was the son of a Punjabi chieftain.{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |publisher=University of California Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117}} He was a Khokhar chieftain who travelled to Samarkand and profited from the contacts he made with the Timurid society.{{Cite book |author=Orsini, Francesca |title=After Timur left : culture and circulation in fifteenth-century North India |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-945066-4 |pages=49 |oclc=913785752}}

Following Timur's 1398 Sack of Delhi, he appointed Khizr Khan as deputy of Multan (Punjab). He held Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and Upper Sindh.{{cite book |author=Kenneth Pletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=PA132 |title=The History of India |date=2010 |isbn=9781615301225 |page=138| publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group }}{{cite book |author=V. D. Mahajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=RA1-PA229 |title=History of Medieval India |date=2007 |isbn=9788121903646 |page=229| publisher=S. Chand }} Collecting his forces in Multan, Khizr Khan defeated and killed Mallu Iqbal Khan in Delhi in 1405.{{cite book |author=Jaswant Lal Mehta |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India: Volume 2 |date=1979 |page=247}} He then captured Delhi on 28 May 1414 thereby establishing the Sayyid dynasty.{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} Khizr Khan did not take up the title of Sultan, but continued the fiction of his allegiance to Timur as Rayat-i-Ala (vassal) of the Timurids - initially that of Timur, and later his son Shah Rukh.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OghDAAAAYAAJ&q=It+is+generally+acknowledged+that+Khizr+Khan+continued+to+recognise+Timur+and+his+successors+,+Shah+Rukh+,+as+his+nominal+overlords+.+But+later+on+under+his+succesor+,+Mubarak+Khan+,+this+%27+fiction+%27+of+allegiance+to+the+Timurid+rulers |title=Proceedings:Volume 55 |publisher=Indian History Congress |year=1995 |page=216}}Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.237 After the accession of Khizr Khan, the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Sindh were reunited under the Delhi Sultanate, where he spent his time subduing rebellions.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3QbAAAAIAAJ&q=khizr+khan+sindh |title=Rajasthan [district Gazetteers] Bharatpur |date=1971 |publisher=Printed at Government Central Press |page=52}}

Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Sayyid Mubarak Shah after his death on 20 May 1421. Mubarak Shah referred to himself as Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah on his coins, removing the Timurid name with the name of the Caliph, and declared himself a Shah. A detailed account of his reign is available in the Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi written by Yahya-bin-Ahmad Sirhindi. After the death of Mubarak Shah, his nephew, Muhammad Shah ascended the throne and styled himself as Sultan Muhammad Shah. Just before his death, he called his son Sayyid Ala-ud-Din Shah from Badaun, and nominated him as successor.{{Cite book |last=Nizami |first=Khaliq Ahmad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axluAAAAMAAJ |title=Supplement to Elliot & Dowson's History of India: Ghaznavids & the Ghurids |date=1981 |publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli |language=en}}

The last ruler of the Sayyids, Ala-ud-Din, voluntarily abdicated the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in favour of Bahlul Khan Lodi on 19 April 1451, and left for Badaun, where he died in 1478.{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0231107143 |page=304}}File:Khizr_Khan_(4).jpg, founder of the Sayyid dynasty.{{cite book |author=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |year=2019 |isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117 |publisher=University of California Press |language=en |quote=The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan...}}]]Langah Sultanate

In 1445, Sultan Qutbudin, chief of Langah tribe,{{cite journal |last=Ahmed |first=Iftikhar |year=1984 |title=Territorial Distribution of Jatt Castes in Punjab c. 1595 – c. 1881 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |publisher=Indian History Congress |volume=45 |pages=429, 432 |issn=2249-1937 |jstor=44140224}}{{cite book |last1=Mubārak |first1=A.F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8IXAAAAYAAJ |title=The Ain I Akbari |last2=Blochmann |first2=H. |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal |year=1891 |series=Bibliotheca Indica |page=321 |access-date=2022-07-28 |volume=2}}{{cite book |last=Lambrick |first=H. T. |title=Sind : a general introduction |date=1975 |publisher=Sindhi Adabi Board |isbn=0-19-577220-2 |publication-place=Hyderabad |page=212 |oclc=2404471}} established the Langah Sultanate in Multan. The Sultanate included regions of southern and central Punjab and some areas of present-day Khyber. A large number of Baloch settlers arrived and the towns of Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan were founded.{{sfn|Roseberry|1987|p={{page needed|date=September 2022}}}}

During the most of 15th century, the Khokhars and Gakhars tribes were in general revolt in the Pothohar region. Jasrath Khokhar was one of their major chiefs who helped Sultan Zain Ul Abideen of Kashmir Sultanate to gain his throne and ruled over vast tracts of Jammu and North Punjab. He also conquered Delhi for a brief period in 1431 but was driven out by Mubarak Shah.{{sfnp|Elliot|Dowson|1872|loc=Chapter XXI Tárikh-i Mubárak Sháhí, of Yahyá bin Ahmad}}

Mughal Era

The Mughals came to power in the early sixteenth century and gradually expanded to control all of Punjab.{{Cite book |last=History |first=Hourly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBmUzQEACAAJ&q=mughal+empire |title=Mughal Empire: A History from Beginning to End |date=June 2020 |publisher=Independently Published |isbn=979-8-6370-3729-2}} During Mughal period Punjab region was divided into two provinces; Province of Multan and Province of Lahore. The Subah of Lahore was one of the three subahs (provinces) of the Mughal Empire in the Punjab region, alongside Multan and Delhi subahs, encompassing the northern, central and eastern Punjab.{{Citation |last=Lally |first=Jagjeet |title=Environment |date=2021-04-01 |work=India and the Silk Roads: The History of a Trading World |pages=21–46 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41237/chapter/350737136 |access-date= |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197581070.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-758107-0}}{{Cite book |last=Wahi |first=Tripta |title=Irrigation, State and Society in Pre-colonial India |publisher=Nehru Memorial Museum and Library |year=2013 |isbn=9789383650002 |pages=3}} It was created as one of the original 12 Subahs of the Mughal Empire under the administrative reforms carried by Akbar in 1580. The province ceased to exist after the death of its last viceroy, Adina Beg in 1758, with large parts being incorporated into Durrani Empire. Collectively, Lahore and Multan subahs, and parts of Delhi subah, comprised Mughal Punjab.

During the Mughal era, Saadullah Khan, born into a family of Punjabi Muslim agriculturalist from Chiniot remained the Grand vizier and Vakil-i-Mutlaq of the Mughal Empire in the period 1645–1656, during the reign of Shah Jahan.{{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Ibn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EkfvgAACAAJ |title=The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire and Its Practical Working Up to the Year 1657 |date=1967 |publisher=Pakistan branch, Oxford University Press |pages=201 |language=en}} Other prominent Muslims from Punjab who rose to nobility during the Mughal Era include Wazir Khan, Adina Beg Arain, and Shahbaz Khan Kamboh.{{Cite book |last1=Talbot |first1=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9edvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT30 |title=Colonial Lahore: A History of the City and Beyond |last2=Kamran |first2=Tahir |date=15 February 2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-765594-8 |page=30 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=Purnima |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-22264-2 |editor-last=Eaton |editor-first=Richard M. |editor-link=Richard M. Eaton |chapter=Warriors and Zamindars in Mughal Punjab |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222642.013.13 |editor-last2=Sreenivasan |editor-first2=Ramya |editor-link2=Ramya Sreenivasan |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34708/chapter-abstract/296421480?redirectedFrom=fulltext}}Islamic Thought and Movements in the Subcontinent, 711–1947, 1979, p 278, Syed Moinul Haq.

The Mughal Empire ruled the region until it was severely weakened in the eighteenth century. As Mughal power weakened, Afghan rulers of Durrani dynasty took control of the region.

The Sikh Empire ruled Punjab from 1799 until the British annexed it in 1849 following the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars.{{cite book |last1=Grewal |first1=J. S. |series=The New Cambridge History of India |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-63764-3 |pages=126–128 |edition=Revised |chapter=The Sikh empire (1799–1849) - Chapter 6}}

British Rule

File:Map of the Punjab (Panjab) region, showing the various doabs, ca.1880.jpg]]

Most of the Punjabi homeland formed a province of British India, though a number of small princely states retained local rulers who recognized British authority. The Punjab with its rich farmlands became one of the most important colonial assets. Lahore was a noted center of learning and culture, and Rawalpindi became an important military installation.

Most Punjabis supported the British during World War I, providing men and resources to the war effort even though the Punjab remained a source of anti-colonial activities.{{cite book |last1=Hibbert |first1=Christopher |title=The great mutiny: India 1857 |date=1980 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-004752-3 |location=Harmondsworth |page=163}} Disturbances in the region increased as the war continued. At the end of the war, high casualty rates, heavy taxation, inflation, and a widespread influenza epidemic disrupted Punjabi society. In 1919 a British officer ordered his troops to fire on a crowd of demonstrators, mostly Sikhs in Amritsar. The Jallianwala massacre fueled the Indian independence movement. Nationalists declared the independence of India from Lahore in 1930 but were quickly suppressed.

When the Second World War broke out, nationalism in British India had already divided into religious movements. Many Sikhs and other minorities supported the Hindus, who promised a secular multicultural and multireligious society, and Muslim leaders in Lahore passed a resolution to work for a Muslim Pakistan, making the Punjab region a center of growing conflict between Indian and Pakistani nationalists. At the end of the war, the British granted separate independence to India and Pakistan, setting off massive communal violence as Muslims fled to Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh Punjabis fled east to India.

The British Raj had major political, cultural, philosophical, and literary consequences in the Punjab, including the establishment of a new system of education. During the independence movement, many Punjabis played a significant role, including Madan Lal Dhingra, Sukhdev Thapar, Ajit Singh Sandhu, Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Bhai Parmanand, Choudhry Rahmat Ali, and Lala Lajpat Rai.

After Independence

At the time of partition in 1947, the province was split into East and West Punjab. East Punjab (48%) became part of India, while West Punjab (52%) became part of Pakistan.{{cite web |url=http://www.pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |title=Pakistan Geotagging: Partition of Punjab in 1947 |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208221714/http://pakgeotagging.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/partition-of-punjab-in-1947.html |archive-date=8 February 2016|date=3 October 2014 }}. Daily Times (10 May 2012). Retrieved 12 July 2013. The Punjab bore the brunt of the civil unrest following partition, with casualties estimated to be in the millions.{{cite journal |last1=Talbot|first1=Ian|title=Partition of India: The Human Dimension|journal=Cultural and Social History|year=2009|volume=6|issue=4|pages=403–410|quote=The number of casualties remains a matter of dispute, with figures being claimed that range from 200,000 to 2 million victims.|doi=10.2752/147800409X466254|s2cid=147110854}}{{Cite book|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|last=D'Costa |first=Bina |publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0415565660|page=53}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/butalia-silence.html|title=The Other Side of Silence: Voices From the Partition of India|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2000}}{{Cite book|title=Muslims in India Since 1947: Islamic Perspectives on Inter-Faith Relations |last=Sikand|first=Yoginder |publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-1134378258|page=5}}

Another major consequence of partition was the sudden shift towards religious homogeneity that occurred in all districts across Punjab owing to the new international border that cut through the province. This rapid demographic shift was primarily due to wide-scale migration but also caused by large-scale religious cleansing riots which were witnessed across the region at the time. According to historical demographer Tim Dyson, in the eastern regions of Punjab that ultimately became Indian Punjab following independence, districts that were 66% Hindu in 1941 became 80% Hindu in 1951; those that were 20% Sikh became 50% Sikh in 1951. Conversely, in the western regions of Punjab that ultimately became Pakistani Punjab, all districts became almost exclusively Muslim by 1951.{{sfn|Dyson|2018|pp=188–189}}

Punjab is Pakistan's second largest province by area after Balochistan with an area of {{convert|205344|km2|abbr=off}}.{{cite web|title=Punjab|url=http://www.smeda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=174|publisher=Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority|access-date=14 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625202613/http://www.smeda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=174|archive-date=25 June 2016}} It occupies 25.8% of the total landmass of Pakistan. Punjab province is bordered by Sindh to the south, the province of Balochistan to the southwest, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and the Islamabad Capital Territory and Azad Kashmir in the north. Punjab borders Jammu and Kashmir in the north, and the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east.

The capital and largest city is Lahore which was the capital of the wider Punjab region since 17th century. Other important cities include Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Multan, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Jhelum, Rahim Yar Khan and Sahiwal. The undivided Punjab region was home to six rivers, of which five flow through Pakistan's Punjab province. From west to east, the rivers are: the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. It is the nation's only province that touches every other province; it also surrounds the federal enclave of the national capital city of Islamabad.{{cite web|first=Choudhary Rahmat |last=Ali |title=Now or Never. Are we to live or perish forever?|date=28 January 1933|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Now_or_Never;_Are_We_to_Live_or_Perish_Forever%3F|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630210551/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Now_or_Never;_Are_We_to_Live_or_Perish_Forever|archive-date=30 June 2008|access-date=6 October 2014}}{{cite book|author=S. M. Ikram|title=Indian Muslims and partition of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7q9EubOYZmwC&pg=PA177|access-date=23 December 2011|date=1 January 1995|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-7156-374-6|pages=177–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521150524/http://books.google.com/books?id=7q9EubOYZmwC&pg=PA177|archive-date=21 May 2013|author-link=S. M. Ikram}}

File:Murree hill station,Pakistan.jpeg of Murree.]]

File:Road Block due to landslide at Girdu.JPG to Fort Munro|left]]

Punjab's landscape mostly consists of fertile alluvial plains of the Indus River and its four major tributaries in Pakistan, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers which traverse Punjab north to south – the fifth of the "five waters" of Punjab, the Beas River, lies exclusively in the Indian state of Punjab. The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. Punjab also includes several mountainous regions, including the Sulaiman Mountains in the southwest part of the province, the Margalla Hills in the north near Islamabad, and the Salt Range which divides the most northerly portion of Punjab, the Pothohar Plateau, from the rest of the province. Sparse deserts can be found in southern Punjab near the border with Rajasthan and the Sulaiman Range. Punjab also contains part of the Thal and Cholistan deserts. In the South, Punjab's elevation reaches {{convert|2327|m|ft|0}}{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} near the hill station of Fort Munro in Dera Ghazi Khan.

File:Punjab sunset.JPG

Most areas in Punjab experience extreme weather with foggy winters, often accompanied by rain. By mid-February the temperature begins to rise; springtime weather continues until mid-April, when the summer heat sets in.

The onset of the southwest monsoon is anticipated to reach Punjab by May, but since the early 1970s, the weather pattern has been irregular. The spring monsoon has either skipped over the area or has caused it to rain so hard that floods have resulted. June and July are oppressively hot. Although official estimates rarely place the temperature above 46 °C, newspaper sources claim that it reaches 51 °C and regularly carry reports about people who have succumbed to the heat. Heat records were broken in Multan in June 1993, when the mercury was reported to have risen to 54 °C. In August the oppressive heat is punctuated by the rainy season, referred to as barsat, which brings relief in its wake. The hardest part of the summer is then over, but cooler weather does not come until late October.

In early 2007, the province experienced one of the coldest winters in the last 70 years.{{cite web|url= http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/06/nat47.htm|title= Mercury drops to freezing point – Dawn Pakistan|date= 6 January 2007}}

Punjab's region temperature ranges from −2° to 45 °C, but can reach 50 °C (122 °F) in summer and can touch down to −10 °C in winter.

Climatically, Punjab has three major seasons:{{cite web |url=http://punjabgovt.nic.in/punjabataglance/SomeFacts.htm |title=Welcome to Official Web site of Punjab, India |access-date=23 November 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123230402/http://punjabgovt.nic.in/PUNJABATAGLANCE/SomeFacts.htm |archive-date=23 November 2005 }}

• Hot weather (April to early June) when temperature rises as high as {{convert|123|°F|°C|abbr=on}}.
• Rainy season (late June to September). Average annual rainfall ranges between 950 and 1300 mm sub-mountain region and 500–800 mm in the plains.
• Cold / Foggy / mild weather (October to March). Temperature goes down as low as {{convert|35.6|°F|°C|abbr=on}}.

{{clear}}

Weather extremes are notable from the hot and barren south to the cool hills of the north. The foothills of the Himalayas are found in the extreme north as well, and feature a much cooler and wetter climate, with snowfall common at higher altitudes.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

{{See also|Punjabi Muslims|List of populated places in Punjab (Pakistan){{!}}List of populated places in Punjab}}

The province is home to over half the population of Pakistan, and is the world's second-most populous subnational entity, and the most populous outside of India and China.

{{see also|Languages of Pakistan|Punjabi dialects and languages}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = left

|caption = Languages of Punjab, Pakistan
(2023 Census){{Cite web|title=TABLE 11 : POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS-2023|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/punjab/dcr/table_11.pdf|access-date=2 April 2020 }}

|label1 = Punjabi |value1 = 67 |color1 = red

|label2 = Saraiki |value2 = 20.64|color2 = orange

|label3 = Urdu |value3 = 7.18 |color3 = green

|label4 = Pashto |value4 = 1.87 |color4 = yellow

|label5=Balochi|value5=0.83|color5=blue

|label6=Mewati|value6=0.81|color6=grey

|label7=Hindko|value7=0.6|color7=purple|value8=1.02|color8=white|label8=Others}}

The major native language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi, representing the largest language spoken in the country. The Punjabi language is spoken in the form of many dialects across the province including Majhi, Multani, Pothwari, Thali, Jhangvi, Dhanni, Shahpuri, Derawali, Riasti, Doabi, Chachhi, Awankari, Ghebi, and others. Many of these dialects are grouped together in the form of varieties such as Saraiki in the south consisting of southern dialects including Multani, Derawali and Riasti; and Hindko in the northwest consisting of a group of northwestern dialects.{{sfn|Shackle|1979|p=198}} Saraiki and Hindko varieties of the language have been separately enumerated from Punjabi (general) in Pakistani censuses from 1981 and 2017, respectively.{{clear}}

{{see also|Christianity in Punjab, Pakistan|Hinduism in Punjab, Pakistan|Religion in the Punjab}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = Left

|caption = Religion in Punjab, Pakistan (2023 Census){{cite web |title=Population by Religion |url= https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf }}

|label1 = Islam |value1 = 97.75 |color1 = Green

|label2 = Christianity |value2 = 1.93 |color2 = Blue

|label3 = Hinduism |value3 = 0.19 |color3 = DarkOrange

|label4 = Others |value4 = 0.13 |color4 = Gray

}}

According to the 2023 census, the population of Punjab, Pakistan was 127,688,922. With 124,462,897 adherents, Muslims comprise the largest religious group, with a Sunni Hanafi majority and a Shia Ithna 'ashariyah minority, forming approximately 97.75 percent of the population. The largest non-Muslim minority is Christians with 2,458,924 adherents, forming roughly 1.93 percent of the population. Hindus form 249,716 people, comprising approximately 0.20 percent of the population. The other minorities include Sikhs and Parsis.

{{Main|Government of Punjab, Pakistan}}

{{See also|Provincial Assembly of the Punjab|Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan|Governor of Punjab, Pakistan}}

File:Beautiful view of Punjab Assembly Lahore - panoramio.jpg

The Government of Punjab is a provincial government in the federal structure of Pakistan, is based in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Province. The Chief Minister of Punjab (CM) is elected by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab to serve as the head of the provincial government in Punjab, Pakistan. The current Chief Minister is Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is also the first ever woman Chief Minister of any province in Pakistan. The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore in eastern Pakistan. The Assembly was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan as having a total of 371 seats, with 66 seats reserved for women and eight reserved for non-Muslims.

There are 48 departments in Punjab government. Each Department is headed by a Provincial Minister (Politician) and a Provincial Secretary (A civil servant of usually BPS-20 or BPS-21). All Ministers report to the Chief Minister, who is the Chief Executive. All Secretaries report to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, who is usually a BPS-22 Civil Servant. The Chief Secretary in turn, reports to the Chief Minister. In addition to these departments, there are several Autonomous Bodies and Attached Departments that report directly to either the Secretaries or the Chief Secretary.

File:New District wise map Punjab province 2022-Prepared by Vijay Kumar.jpg{{Excerpt|Divisions of Punjab, Pakistan#List of divisions by population over the years}}

{{Excerpt|List of districts in Punjab, Pakistan#List of the Districts by area, population, density, literacy rate etc.}}

{{Main|List of cities in Punjab (Pakistan)|List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population}}

{{Further|Dadukhel mine}}

File:GDP by Province.jpg

Punjab has the largest economy in Pakistan, contributing most to the national GDP. The province's economy has quadrupled since 1972.{{Cite web|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501074227/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf|url-status=dead|title=World Bank Document|archive-date=1 May 2011|access-date=19 December 2019}} Its share of Pakistan's GDP was 54.7% in 2000 and 59% as of 2010. It is especially dominant in the service and agriculture sectors of Pakistan's economy. With its contribution ranging from 52.1% to 64.5% in the Service Sector and 56.1% to 61.5% in the agriculture sector. It is also a major manpower contributor because it has the largest pool of professionals and highly skilled (technically trained) manpower in Pakistan. It is also dominant in the manufacturing sector, though the dominance is not as huge, with historical contributions ranging from a low of 44% to a high of 52.6%.{{Cite web|url=http://www.spdc.org.pk/pubs/nps/nps5.pdf|title=Provincial Accounts of Pakistan: Methodology and Estimates 1973–2000|access-date=19 December 2019}}{{Dead link|date=December 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2007, Punjab achieved a growth rate of 7.8%{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=152370|title=The News International: Latest, Breaking, Pakistan, Sports and Video News|access-date=22 April 2015|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728093450/https://www.thenews.com.pk/|url-status=dead}} and during the period 2002–03 to 2007–08, its economy grew at a rate of between 7% and 8% per year.A PricewaterhouseCoopers study released in 2009, surveying the 2008 GDP of the top cities in the world, calculated Faisalabad's GDP (PPP) at $35 billion. The city was third in Pakistan behind Karachi ($78 billion) and Lahore ($40 billion). Faisalabad's GDP is projected to rise to $37 billion in 2025 at a growth rate of 5.7%, higher than the growth rates of 5.5% and 5.6% predicted for Karachi and Lahore.[2][ "PricewaterhouseCoopers Media Centre". Ukmediacentre.pwc.com. 1 June 2005.][http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/economic-and-business/micro-credit,-income-distribution,-poverty-789 – Last Paragraph]{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and during 2008–09 grew at 6% against the total GDP growth of Pakistan at 4%.

Despite the lack of a coastline, Punjab is the most industrialised province of Pakistan; its manufacturing industries produce textiles, sports goods, heavy machinery, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, vehicles, auto parts, metals, sugar mill plants, aircraft, cement, agricultural machinery, bicycles and rickshaws, floor coverings, and processed foods. In 2003, the province manufactured 90% of the paper and paper boards, 71% of the fertilizers, 69% of the sugar and 40% of the cement of Pakistan.{{cite web |title=Punjab Gateway |url=http://203.215.180.58/portal/docimages/9327manufacturing.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070705111033/http://203.215.180.58/portal/docimages/9327manufacturing.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2007}}

File:Industrial Zones Punjab.jpg

Lahore and Gujranwala Divisions have the largest concentration of small light engineering units. The district of Sialkot excels in sports goods, surgical instruments and cutlery goods. Industrial estates are being developed by Punjab government to boost industrialization in province, Quaid e Azam Business Park Sheikhupura is one of the industrial areas which is being developed near Sheikhupura on Lahore-Islamabad motorway.{{Cite web | url=https://pie.com.pk/quaid-e-azam-business-park | title=PIEDMC – Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company}}

Punjab has the lowest poverty rates in Pakistan, although a divide is present between the northern and southern parts of the province. Sialkot District in the prosperous northern part of the province has a poverty rate of 5.63%,{{cite web |last1=Arif |first1=G. M. |title=Poverty Profile of Pakistan |url=http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213111826/http://www.bisp.gov.pk/PIDEReports/poverty.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2016 |access-date=14 July 2016 |website=Benazir Income Support Programme |publisher=Government of Pakistan |quote=See Table 5, Page 12}} while Rajanpur District in the poorer south has a poverty rate of 60.05%.

{{See also|List of schools in Punjab, Pakistan}}File:Government College University Tower in Lahore.jpg]]

The literacy rate has increased greatly over the last 40 years (see the table below). Punjab has the highest Human Development Index out of all of Pakistan's provinces at 0.550.{{Cite web|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/PAK/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|language=en|access-date=8 August 2021|title=Sub-national HDI – Subnational HDI – Table – Global Data Lab }}

Sources:{{cite web|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145959e.pdf|title=Pakistan: where and who are the world's illiterates?; Background paper for the Education for all global monitoring report 2006: literacy for life; 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223003430/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145959e.pdf|archive-date=23 December 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/119101/rural-women-uphold-pakistans-literacy-rate/|title=Rural women uphold Pakistan's literacy rate|date=15 February 2011|work=The Express Tribune|access-date=22 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015023752/http://tribune.com.pk/story/119101/rural-women-uphold-pakistans-literacy-rate/|archive-date=15 October 2014}}

This is a chart of the education market of Punjab estimated by the government in 1998.

{{Excerpt|List of universities of Punjab, Pakistan|List of universities}}

{{Excerpt|List of medical schools in Punjab, Pakistan|List of medical colleges|subsections=yes}}

{{Main|Punjabi culture}}

File:Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam 2014-07-31.jpg, Multan (1320 AD)]]

The culture in Punjab grew out of the settlements along the five rivers, which served as an important route to the Near East as early as the ancient Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 3000 BCE.{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kamala Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7pO-IZY218C&pg=PA7 |title=The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism |date=2012 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-4070-5 |language=en}} Agriculture has been the major economic feature of the Punjab and has therefore formed the foundation of Punjabi culture, with one's social status being determined by landownership. Punjab emerged as an important agricultural region, especially following the Green Revolution during the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's, has been described as the "breadbasket of both India and Pakistan".

{{Main|Punjabi festivals (Pakistan)}}The Islamic festivals are typically observed.[http://www.schools.punjab.gov.pk/system/files/Notification_2.pdf Official Holidays 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517025526/http://www.schools.punjab.gov.pk/system/files/Notification_2.pdf |date=17 May 2017 }}, Government of Punjab – Pakistan (2016)[http://www.kmc.gos.pk/Contents.aspx?id=48 Official Holidays 2016] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901090935/http://kmc.gos.pk/Contents.aspx?id=48|date=1 September 2018}}, Karachi Metropolitan, Sindh, Pakistan Non-Islamic festivals include Lohri, Basant and Vaisakhi, which are usually celebrated as seasonal festivals.[https://books.google.com/books?id=1O0eAQAAMAAJ&q=makara Census of India, 1961: Punjab. Manage of Publications] The Islamic festivals are set according to the lunar Islamic calendar (Hijri), and the date falls earlier by 10 to 13 days from year to year.{{cite book |author1=Jacqueline Suthren Hirst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBOpAgAAQBAJ |title=Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia |author2=John Zavos |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-62668-5 |page=274}}; [https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/india/eid-ul-fitar Eid ul-Fitar], Ramzan Id/Eid-ul-Fitar in India, Festival Dates

Some Islamic clerics and some politicians have attempted to ban the participation of non-Islamic festivals because of the religious basis,[https://www.dawn.com/news/1315376 The ban on fun], IRFAN HUSAIN, Dawn, 18 February 2017 and they being declared haram (forbidden in Islam).[http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/columns/the-barricaded-muslim-mind/286436.html The barricaded Muslim mind] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404023014/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/columns/the-barricaded-muslim-mind/286436.html |date=4 April 2023 }}, Saba Naqvi (28 August 2016), Quote: "Earlier, Muslim villagers would participate in Hindu festivals; now they think that would be haraam, so stay away. Visiting dargahs is also haraam"

{{Main|Tourism in Punjab, Pakistan}}File:Lahore Fort.jpg, a landmark built during the Mughal era, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site|250x250px]]

File:Another_great_bastion_of_Rohtas_Fort_by_Usman_Ghani.jpg, a UNESCO world heritage site, was built upon a hill overlooking the Pothohar Plateau.]]

File:Derawar-fort-pak.png in Cholistan Desert, a UNESCO World Heritage Site|left]]

Tourism in Punjab is regulated by the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab.{{cite web |date=9 April 2010 |title=Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab Official Website |url=http://www.tdcp.gop.pk/ |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Tdcp.gop.pk}} The province has a number of large cosmopolitan cities, including the provincial capital Lahore. Major visitor attractions there include Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens, which are now recognised World Heritage Sites. The Walled City of Lahore, Badshahi Mosque, Wazir Khan Mosque, Tomb of Jahangir and Nur Jahan, Tomb of Asaf Khan, Chauburji and other major sites are visited by tourists each year.

Murree is a famous hill station stop for tourists.{{cite web |title=Ministry of Tourism: Punjab Attractions |url=http://www.tourism.gov.pk/punjab.html |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Tourism.gov.pk |archive-date=12 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612192820/http://www.tourism.gov.pk/punjab.html |url-status=dead }} The Pharwala Fort, which was built by an ancient Hindu civilisation, is on the outskirts of the city. The city of Sheikhupura also has a number of sites from the Mughal Empire, including the World Heritage-listed Rohtas Fort near Jhelum. The Katasraj temple in the city of Chakwal is a major destination for Hindu devotees. The Khewra Salt Mines is one of the oldest mines in South Asia. Faisalabad's clock tower and eight bazaars were designed to represent the Union Jack.{{cite web |author=khalid |title=Tourism in Punjab, Pakistan |url=http://www.vista-tourism.com/geography/punjab.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815002400/http://www.vista-tourism.com/geography/punjab.htm |archive-date=15 August 2010 |access-date=27 September 2010 |publisher=Vista-tourism.com}}

File:Noor_mahal.jpg, Bahawalpur]]

The province's southward is arid. Multan is known for its mausoleums of saints and Sufi pirs. The Multan Museum, Multan fort, DHA 360° zoo and Nuagaza tombs are significant attractions in the city. The city of Bahawalpur is located near the Cholistan and Thar deserts. Derawar Fort in the Cholistan Desert is the site for the annual Cholistan Jeep Rally. The city is also near the ancient site of Uch Sharif which was once a Delhi Sultanate stronghold. The Noor Mahal, Sadiq Ghar Palace, and Darbar Mall were built during the reign of the Nawabs. The Lal Suhanra National Park is a major zoological garden on the outskirts of the city.{{Cite web |title=Lal Suhanra Park Bahawalpur |url=https://bahawalpur.org/lal-suhanra-national-park/ |website=bahawalpur.org|date=18 July 2022 }}

{{See also|Punjabi Language Movement}}File:Punjabi prachar demand.jpgThe use of Urdu and English as the near exclusive languages of broadcasting, the public sector, and formal education have led some to fear that the Punjabi language in the province is being relegated to a low-status language and that it is being denied an environment where it can flourish.Sarah Veach, Katy Williamson, [http://languagemanuals.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/4853169/punjabi.pdf Punjabi Culture and Language Manual] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113700/http://languagemanuals.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/4853169/punjabi.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} ([https://archive.org/stream/Punjabi-CultureAndLanguageManual#page/n0/mode/2up archived]), Texas State University, p. 6, retrieved 14 May 2016.{{cite web|url=http://apnaorg.com/articles/ishtiaq8/|publisher=apnaorg.com|title=Punjabis Without Punjabi|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525144848/http://apnaorg.com/articles/ishtiaq8/}}

{{cite web|url=http://ppinewsagency.com/inferiority-complex-declining-punjabi-language-punjab-university-vice-chancellor/|publisher=ppinewsagency.com|title=Inferiority complex declining Punjabi language: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor|agency=Pakistan Press International|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127220151/http://ppinewsagency.com/inferiority-complex-declining-punjabi-language-punjab-university-vice-chancellor/|archive-date=27 November 2016}}

{{Cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/880483/urdu-isation-of-punjab/|title=Urdu-isation of Punjab – The Express Tribune|date=4 May 2015|newspaper=The Express Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=30 December 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127215535/http://tribune.com.pk/story/880483/urdu-isation-of-punjab/|archive-date=27 November 2016}}

In August 2015, the Pakistan Academy of Letters, International Writer's Council (IWC) and World Punjabi Congress (WPC) organised the Khawaja Farid Conference and demanded that a Punjabi-language university should be established in Lahore and that Punjabi language should be declared as the medium of instruction at the primary level.{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|title=Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi|date=21 February 2011|website=The Nation|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307142807/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|archive-date=7 March 2016}}{{cite magazine|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/26-Aug-2015/sufi-poets-can-guarantee-unity|title=Sufi poets can guarantee unity|date=26 August 2015|magazine=The Nation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030021751/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/26-Aug-2015/sufi-poets-can-guarantee-unity|archive-date=30 October 2015}} In September 2015, a case was filed in Supreme Court of Pakistan against Government of Punjab, Pakistan as it did not take any step to implement the Punjabi language in the province.{{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/blogs/15-Sep-2015/supreme-court-s-urdu-verdict-no-language-can-be-imposed-from-above|title=Supreme Court's Urdu verdict: No language can be imposed from above|date=15 September 2015|website=The Nation|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916165410/http://nation.com.pk/blogs/15-Sep-2015/supreme-court-s-urdu-verdict-no-language-can-be-imposed-from-above|archive-date=16 September 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/254518-two-member-sc-bench-refers-punjabi-language-case-to-cjp.html|title=Two-member SC bench refers Punjabi language case to CJP|date=14 September 2015|website=Business Recorder|access-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021133224/http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/254518-two-member-sc-bench-refers-punjabi-language-case-to-cjp.html|archive-date=21 October 2015}} Additionally, several thousand Punjabis gather in Lahore every year on International Mother Language Day.

Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD), has questioned Pakistan's decision to adopt Urdu as its national language in a country where majority of people speak Punjabi language, citing his interpretation of Islamic doctrine as encouraging education in the mother-tongue."Pakistan should have adopted Punjabi as national language: Hafiz Saeed" Zee News. 6 March 2016

• {{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/pakistan-should-have-adopted-punjabi-as-national-language-hafiz-saeed_1862842.html|publisher=Zee News|title=Pakistan should have adopted Punjabi as national language: Hafiz Saeed | Zee News|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141615/http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/pakistan-should-have-adopted-punjabi-as-national-language-hafiz-saeed_1862842.html|archive-date=25 May 2017|date=6 March 2016}}

Some of the organisations and activists that demand the promotion of the Punjabi language include:

• Cultural and research institutes: Punjabi Adabi Board, the Khoj Garh Research Centre, Punjabi Prachar, Institute for Peace and Secular Studies, Adbi Sangat, Khaaksaar Tehreek, Saanjh, Maan Boli Research Centre, Punjabi Sangat Pakistan, Punjabi Markaz, Sver International.
• Trade unions and youth groups: Punjabi Writers Forum, National Students Federation, Punjabi Union-Pakistan, Punjabi National Conference, National Youth Forum, Punjabi Writers Forum, National Students Federation, Punjabi Union, Pakistan, and the Punjabi National Conference.
• Notable activists include Tariq Jatala, Farhad Iqbal, Diep Saeeda, Khalil Ojla, Afzal Sahir, Jamil Ahmad Paul, Mazhar Tirmazi, Mushtaq Sufi, Biya Je, Tohid Ahmad Chattha and Bilal Shaker Kahaloon, Nazeer Kahut."Mind your language—The movement for the preservation of Punjabi". The Herald. 2 September 2106.
• {{cite web|url=http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153482|publisher=herald.dawn.com|title=Mind your language—The movement for the preservation of Punjabi – People & Society – Herald|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223065731/http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153482|archive-date=23 December 2016|date=4 August 2016}}"Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike". The Times of India. 4 October 2015.
• {{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Punjabi-in-schools-Pro-Punjabi-outfits-in-Pakistan-threaten-hunger-strike/articleshow/49214265.cms|publisher=timesofindia.indiatimes.com|title=Punjabi in schools: Pro-Punjabi outfits in Pakistan threaten hunger strike – Times of India|newspaper=The Times of India |date=4 October 2015 |access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927231834/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Punjabi-in-schools-Pro-Punjabi-outfits-in-Pakistan-threaten-hunger-strike/articleshow/49214265.cms|archive-date=27 September 2016}}

"Rally for Ending the 150-year-old Ban on Education in Punjabi" The Nation. 21 February 2011.

• {{cite web|url=http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|publisher=nation.com.pk|title=Rally for ending 150-year-old 'ban on education in Punjabi|access-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307142807/http://nation.com.pk/lahore/21-Feb-2011/Rally-for-ending-150yearold-ban-on-education-in-Punjabi|archive-date=7 March 2016|date=21 February 2011}}

• List of people from Punjab, Pakistan, also includes people born in what is today Indian Punjab but moved to Pakistan after partition
• List of Punjabi people, also includes people of Punjabi ethnicity from India and elsewhere

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Pakistan|Geography|Punjab}}

• {{Cite book |last=Amjad |first=Yahya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P60yAAAAIAAJ&q=tarikh+i+pakistan+yahya |title=Tarikh-i Pakistan : qadim daur—zamanah-yi ma qabl az tarikh : Pakistan ki sarzamin par aj se paune do karor sal pahle |date=1989 |language=ur}}
• {{citation|last=Dyson|first=Tim|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8}}
• {{cite report|author=India. Census Commissioner|year=1941|series=Census of India, 1941 |volume=VI |title=Punjab |location=Delhi |jstor=saoa.crl.28215541 |jstor-access=free}}
• {{citation |author=Pakistan Narcotics Control Board|author-link=Pakistan Narcotics Control Board |title=National survey on drug abuse in Pakistan|date=1986|publisher=The University of Michigan}}
• {{cite book |author=Radha Kumud Mookerji |year=1989 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1951 |title=Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=81-208-0423-6}}
• {{Cite book |last=Roseberry |first=J. Royal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAMNAAAAIAAJ |title=Imperial Rule in Punjab: The Conquest and Administration of Multan, 1818-1881 |year=1987 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-85054-28-5}}
• {{Cite journal| last=Shackle| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher Shackle| title=Problems of classification in Pakistan Panjab| journal=Transactions of the Philological Society| date=1979| volume=77| issue=1| pages=191–210| doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1979.tb00857.x| issn=0079-1636}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Punjab (Pakistan)}}

{{commons}}

• {{Official website|http://www.punjab.gov.pk}}
• Guide to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170919203232/http://dmoz.pk/Provinces/Punjab/ Punjab, Pakistan]

{{Punjab, Pakistan topics}}

{{Five rivers of the Punjab|state=collapsed}}

{{Administrative units of Pakistan}}

{{Districts of Punjab, Pakistan|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Provinces of Pakistan

Category:1970 establishments in Pakistan

Category:States and territories established in 1970

Category:Punjabi-speaking countries and territories